If there’s one thing I know, it’s that a happy wife makes a happy life. So a few weeks ago when my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world, I wanted to show my excitement and love for our new little addition. The first morning I was headed back to work at Astute Solutions after the baby was born, I decided to call and order flowers to be sent to her – after all, what woman doesn’t love getting flowers? As I navigated traffic, I searched for a florist and placed my call to order. What ensued was a frustrating experience to say the least, particularly because it ended in no flowers for my wife, and no sale for the company. I was immediately greeted with a voice asking me to choose from a variety of options. But while listening to the various menu options and weaving in and out of cars, the frustration began to set in. After pressing “3” for sales, “2” for a mail order, “4” for specialty orders, and “1” to purchase via credit card with no avail, I was fed up. I just wanted to speak to an agent and order flowers. I hung up the phone without speaking to someone and never placed an order. Some might say I’m impatient, but I’m much like everyone else including your customers - busy! And working with customer-focused companies at Astute Solutions, I’m sensitive to customer experience. I just wanted to be able to place my order, and in the absence of an available agent, I would have settled for speaking with a computer. My scenario is not unique, as we all know. The customer service world is not at a loss for examples and stories which support this very frustration. But the good news is that the concept of a “virtual agent” works to mitigate this frustration, and in many cases increase customer satisfaction. Here’s how:
With virtual agents, consumers can ask questions about product information, store locations, ordering or anything else their heart desires. Additionally, virtual agents powered by natural language processing are capable of being intelligent both linguistically and logically. That means that if you were to ask the virtual agent a question that it has never heard before, it can be “smart enough” to derive your intent and answer the question, or give you options based on what it thinks you’re asking. Furthermore, the agent can sound very realistic and surprisingly personable, not like a robot from a bad 80’s sci-fi movie.
What are some key benefits to employing a virtual agent?
- Reduced/eliminated on-hold or average wait time
- Reduced labor/staffing needs
- Reduced call abandonment
- Increased customer satisfaction
Virtual agents are powerful tools for providing efficient service to customers and ensuring positive customer experiences. They are intelligent solutions that can answer a customer’s question derived from content in a knowledge base your company has created. The answers that virtual agents provide are spoken to a customer as the customer speaks to it, and provide the option to speak with an actual agent at any time.
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